Game board



May 25, 1943. F. s. KRAMER GAME BOARD Filed March 4, 1942 2 Sh eets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Fay 6. Kramer BYw May 25 1943. F. s. KRAMER was scum Filed March 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR. Fay S. Kramer Fig; /8

Patented May 25, 1943 UNITED PAT E. N T OF F ICE GAME BOARD S. Kramer, Long Island City, N. Y. Application-March 4, 1942, Serial No. 433,251

This invention relatesto a game-board for any kind of game employing. playing. pieces, such as chess, checkers, Check-Mate, Mah-Jong, Chinese=checkers, lotto, parcl'lesL-bridge games; and

the like.

The main object of the present invention is to provide means to make" the game-board: entirely self-contained.

Another object of the present invention is to furnish all the playing piecesin" a'- single unit, self assembled,v and of suchcompactness that it may be conveniently carried in a pocket, purse, or the'like.

A still further object of the present invention is to providethe' required playing pieces within the game-board, said pieces being; removable from the game-board in a single unit and to provide means to utilize the same' pieces in: different kind of games.

Still another object of the present invention is the method of manufacturing thedgame board and the playing pieces at very'low cost so as to permit its wide distribution.

In the drawings a special form of the gameboard constructed according to the invention is illustrated by way of example in connection with a" board for chess; checkers, Chess-Mate and Chinese-checkers.

Figure 1 shows a perspectiveview'of'thegameboard, the tray being partly removed. and the front of the sleeve showing a-Che'ss-Board'; V

Fig. 2 shows a perspective" view of the game-'- board, the tray being partly removed again, and the sleeve from the reverse side showing a Check-Mate board.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the sleeve from the inside before being assembled;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of all component parts arranged inside of the game-board.

Fig. 5 is a-plan view of the entire game-board, a part of the sleeve being cut out.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional elevation according to 6-45 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional elevation according to 1-1 of Fig. 5.

Figs. 8 and 9 show perspective views of a playing piece for chess or checkers in front and reverse side, respectively, having a typical chessman symbol on one side and a solid color on the reverse side.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the game-board, in another embodiment of the invention, the tray being partly removed, and the front of the sleeve showing a chess board.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the game-board shown in -Figl 1-0; the tray being partly removed; and the sleeve from the'reverse side showing a Gh-ine'se-checker board.

Figs. 12', 13; 14; 1 5, and 16 show perspective views-of different kind of playing pieces for differenli games. j

Fig. 17 is a perspective-view of a box, receiving the tray' and showing a chess'board on the front Side.

Fig. 18 is an elevational view' of an envelope, receiving the tray and showing achess board on the front side.

Fig. 19 is an elevationalviewof a dialwith a spinner.

Fig; 20' is aside elevational View to Fig. 19 partly in" cross:v section.

Fig. 21 isqa= perspective view of the sleeve having ahole to receive the spinner.

By referring to the drawings it will be seen that the game-board consists in one modification" of the invention of a sleeve' I i the front and reverse of which may have printed on or fixed toin any other way the playingiboard; such'asfor checkers and chess Z on its front and for Check-*Mate 3 on-itsreverse (Figs. r and 2-l-or for checkers and chess 8 on its-front and fonGhinese-checkers 9 on. itsreverse.

Theplaying pieces 4- arecarriedby a; tray 5 from whichthey are stripped-out and then mounted onthe surface: or playing board 2', 3', 8, and 9, respectively, of the sleeve l when play'iing. The tray 5- together with all playing pieces are'assembled asioneunit intothe 'sleeve l in such a'waythat leaves-the trayB-f'reet'obe withdrawn ina drawer-like .mannerl The" game'- boardcan convenientlybe carried in arr average pocket, purse, or thejlike.

In a specialmodification of the=invention the sleeve Files-inserted: a preferably" U*-shape'd partition' 6-whichgwhen pasted into positior'i' into" the sleeve l, forms together with the latter a compartment to hold the tray 5 in drawer fashion. The formed compartment is preferably accommodated exactly to the shape of the tray 5.

In the use for a chess or checkers game the tray 5 has thirty two cutouts (Fig. 4) corresponding to the thirty two playing pieces of the chess game and carries thirty two playing pieces 4 in a single unit, whereby the pieces 4 are held in place by the snug fit.

Figs. 10 and 11 show the same modification of the invention in connection with a chess and checkers game 8 on the front and a Chinesecheckers game 9 on the reverse side. The tray 5 which is again arranged in the sleeve l in a drawer-like manner, has here sixty two cutouts, receiving the sixty two playing pieces 4, since sixty playing pieces are necessary for the Chinese-checkers game and two pieces serve as reserve pieces when one is lost. The sixty playing pieces have printed on or fixed to in any other way six different colors, ten pieces each carrying the same color, and two pieces are left white in order to put later the color of the lost piece on this reserve piece. The other side of the playing pieces 4 have just two different colors distributed in such a way that a complete set of chess pieces and a complete set of checkers pieces and besides that six reserve pieces are available.

The playing pieces 4 can be arranged as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 with different colors and carrying symbols in use for chess and checkers, but also with coin marks, letters, play-cards, signs, or the like in any shape as shown in Figs. 12 to 16.

The main body of the present invention, being the tray 5 carrying the playing pieces in one single unit, can not only be put into a sleeve as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 10, and 11, but also into a box I (Fig. 17) or into an envelope I (Fig. 18), or the like, whereby preferably the device which receives the tray 5 always carries the particular playing board on its front and/or reverse side.

Since some games use one or more dice, there is provided also a spinner I0 (Fig. 19) which is mounted on a dial II and eyeletted to a disc 6 which can be inserted into a cutout 4 of the tray 5 instead of a playing piece 4. For some games the spinner II] will be sufiicient without needing the dial I I. In this case the board may have a cutout 4 (Fig. 21) corresponding to the disc I' carrying the spinner. The spinner I0 can be inserted from the outside when playing the game and inserted from the inside when not playing the game.

Since it is quite important to manufacture the game-board in highly economic way, the entire game-board is made of two elementary parts, namely the main part, the tray 5, and a secondary part, the sleeve I, box I, envelope I or the like.

The main part, the tray 5, in a preferred construction the tray 5 together with the U-shaped partition 6, and the playing pieces 4 are cut out in a single operation from a fairly thick cardboard after having printed on or in any other way attached the color and/or the symbols for the respective game.

The secondary part, the sleeve I, box I, and envelope I is made preferably of thin cardboard having printed on or attached otherwise the playing board or boards 2, 3 on the outside, whereas in the case of the sleeve I the inside receives along the margins two strip-glued areas I.

After finishing the printing and cutting out operation the game-board is assembled simply by folding the sleeve I, and pasting the partition 6 securely into position inside of the sleeve I together with the tray 5 containing all playing pieces 4 as one unit into the compartment formed by the partition 6 and the sleeve I.

When the game board is used, it is necessary to remove the tray 5 from the sleeve I, the box I, the envelope I or the like, then to strip out the playing pieces 4 of the tray 5, which pieces 4 consist preferably of die-cut plates and are then mounted on the playing board 2 or 3, 8 or 9, of the sleeve I, the envelope I the box I, or the like.

While the present invention refers preferably to a low-cost pocket-sized game, it is understood that the same general construction features may be applied with much benefit to game-boards of larger size employing discs or other shaped playing pieces, such as are used in parchesi, backgammon, bingo, or the like, when only the basic invention namely the storing of playing members in a tray as a single unit inside of a compact self-contained game-board, as described, is used.

I have thus described specifically and in detail a game board embodying the features of my invention in the use for chess, checkers, checkmate, and Chinese-checkers, as example only, in order that the manner of constructing, applying, operating and using the invention may be fully understood, however, the specific terms herein are used descriptively rather thanin a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being defined by the claim,

What I claim as new and desire by Letters Patent is:

In a game device, substantially flat holder means comprising an integral card having a transverse strip and at least two legs extending from said transverse strip in parallel and spaced relation and at substantially right angle to said strip forming a substantially U-shaped frame, a top and bottom sheet, at least one of said sheets having agame field thereon, said frame being positioned intermediate said sheets and being attached to the respective inner faces of said sheets and carrier means for removably retaining play ing elements for said game fields and frictionally engageable with lateral opposed edges of said legs, said carrier means being adapted to abut against said transverse strip, the free end of said carrier means when engaging said lateral edges of said legs and abutting against said transverse strip being in register with said forward ends of said sheets, at least one of said sheets having a cut-out exposing a portion of said forward end of said carrier means, whereby said free end of said carrier means may be grasped by the hand of the player to withdraw said carrier from its position between said top and bottom sheets.

FAY S. KRAMER. 

